How to not get attached?

[Cricket]

We do our chickens at home, but everything else we have someone come and slaughter them, then take them to the butcher to be cut up. I've found this the easiest for me to live with--they have no idea anything is up (other than extra grain to themselves) and drop like a stone.

 

[bcnewe2]

I send all my animals to a processor. I've been doing the farm thing for a long time, but still can't take a life unless I'm putting something out of misery. I don't make excuses for my inability to take a life, I pride myself with my abilities to help create good healthy, humanely raised livestock for people that want to know where and how their meat is raised.
I agree with the other poster, you either can or can't. If ya can't you have to find someone who can do it for you.

I also try not to name or get attached to the animals I know will not be staying on the farm. But I do have ewes that are my foundation stock, they all have names and personalities! Just not all "good" names depending on their personality!

It doesn't get easy, just easier than when I first started.

 

[Mamaboid]

I get attached. It is just the way it is. But, we don't do our own processing. We send all of our animals including chickens to a processor. We don't really have the time and just don't know where we could do it without attracting coyotes or something. So we figure we will help the economy (or at least the local butcher) and pay to have it done. So we drop off a live animal and then pick up packed meats. The first one is the hardest. Then it gets easier with each time you take them in. It will never feel good and you will always feel kind of bad about it but the feelings from the first time go away.

The first animals I ever raised for meat were two of the cutest little piglets you ever saw. We made pets out of them, loved on em, and spoiled em rotten. When it came time to 'do the deed', we found a processor who would handle the whole thing so, I stayed home, my Dh "took the kids for a ride and stopped on the way home and bought pork chops". We do chickens ourselves sometimes, but to me it is well worth the extra to have somebody else do it. I know I will not be able to do goats that I have helped be born. I can 'stay home and send em for a ride' though.

 

[MamaRudey]

We process our own small animals but we send beef and pork to the local butchers. We all get attached to everything, but we all understand why the animals are here. I was raised on a farm and have taught that aspect of life to my children as well.

 

[michickenwrangler]

I send my mammals out, but I've done chickens at home.

The butcher still rolls his eyes when I give my goats tearful good-byes and hugs. The thing I hate the most about it, is that they KNOW when they get there. I know they can smell the blood and the holding pen is dark and scary. I would like to do it at home, but I really don't have the equipment for facilities (we live on a river and while I know a little bit of goat blood a few times a year won't really hurt anything, I still don't want more runoff than there has to be). I'm also afraid of NOT killing them. I'll kill a chicken, but I'm afraid that I'll mess up somehow with a goat or sheep and they'll suffer more than they should.

 

[jjaazzy]

uhhhg gosh, it's just not easy is it? Why can't they come up with a sedative that we could give them they could go take a nap and drift off to dreamland. But would be safe for us. Meanwhile my dog had no problems killing my 4 week old Silkies that I have been babysitting for the past weeks. The day before Easter, I got to live with their last little squaks echoing in my mind. ............ I went and got more but they are not the same and not as pretty either. Leftovers from Easter pickings.

 

[OneFineAcre]

I've slaughtered chickens and hogs myself.
I used to deer hunt never had any issues killing a deer and butchering.

I couldn't kill one of my goats. Couldn't really sell one to someone who I knew that was their intention. Fortunately, in our area it's relatively easy to sell Nigerian Dwarf wethers as pets,

We have dairy animals, so we do get benefit, but they are mostly pets and a hobby. We enjoy showing as well.

I have no problem eating goat at a Carribean or Indian restaraunt. In fact I really like curried goat.

Couldn't kill one of mine though, unless it was really hard times.

 

[Heirloom]

Firstly, those that are going to be in your freezer, don't name them!!! That makes it worse.

Yeah, naming makes it harder. Unless you name them appropriately....my two hogs are named Patty and Link...... Keeps your eye on the goal.

All I can say is do what ever you have to do to make yourself OK with it. Don't name them, don't do the processing yourself....whatever helps you. I have found that giving a good, happy & healthy life and never forgetting their purpose on the farm is what works for me. Sure, I'll get attached. They are family....errr.....herd/pack members, all of them from chicks to dogs to hogs. But in my mind it is the fulfillment of their destiny. I provide for them, they provide for me. It's a circle of life farm thing

 

[RJSchaefer]

We've done our own chickens and ducks this year. I do the raising, my boyfriend does the killing. The duck was hard. We got attached to those big, intelligent, curious eyes. My oldest daughter and I made a pact to be strong and do the cleaning together. At the very least, she said she was determined to watch me clean.

When she saw the duck after slaughter, she broke down. It was too much for her to take. I ended up going it alone. Shed a few tears, rolled up my sleeves and took care of business.

We processed one of the meat chickens last night. That was easy. All the kids sat on the porch and watched, asking about the anatomy.

Boyfriend is uncertain about goat slaughtering, when we get them. He wants to be the one to deliver them to the butcher. I'd rather they be led to a grassy area and quickly dispatched, none the wiser.

I agree with ohiogoatgirl. You can either do it, or you can't. Most people who can't, I think, end up as vegetarians when they discover it. It's hard to justify eating meat when you can't do the dirty work yourself. There are also people who could, but don't want to as long as someone else can do it for them (this would be me).

 

[llbolen]

Here's my thoughts...

If you don't want to kill/butcher your animals, don't buy meat animals, buy pets. Then, go to the store and buy meat that you have no idea of where it came from or how it was raised. Simple, a pet is a pet, a meat animal is food. Even if you send it to a processor, it still dies. You've still decided it's fate.

Personally, I kill and butcher my own rabbits. I've taken care of chickens, raccoons, deer, and fish. Cows, pigs, and sheep are larger and require different processing then I've been able to set up at home. They go to the butcher.

The reason I take care of the small animals is because of bacteria and possible contamination. Butchers take care of a lot of different animals during the day. Yes, most keep clean environments and practice good hygiene, but small animals don't always get the same attention at a processor's that you would give them during home butchering. To me, there is a greater risk of meat contamination. Which is probably why so much store bought meat has so much E. coli bacteria growing on it. (Thank you microbiology class.) Rabbits and poultry are the easiest. I use the broom stick method for rabbits that way I don't have to hold them. Although I think I might like to try the rabbit dispatching fork thing. Anyway, when I kill one, I butcher it immediately making sure to wash everything and minimize contaminating my meat. I know exactly how that meat has been handled. I can also inspect the meat and organs to see if I want to actually eat that particular rabbit. I'm not eating a rabbit that has tumors or spots on it's organs. That is dog/cat food. A butcher may not always disclose that this animal had some spots on the lungs because he/she didn't notice it, they are busy, or because they would eat the meat anyway. I won't take the risk.

The point of growing my own meat rabbits is to make sure the meat I use is healthy, the animals are treated well, and to minimize the risk of getting some nasty bacterial infection. Why do people own meat animals if not to use the meat?

It's a little bit hard, but I know that store bought meat was also alive at some point in time. Although the difference is no one worried about killing those animals. Those animals were raised to make a profit, they were not fretted over like I fret over my rabbits. I go out and play and pet my rabbits. I brush them, I pick them the best grass by hand every day, those beasts are spoiled. And yes, I will put them down without much hesitation. I do it quickly, I make sure I am ready before I begin, and I do it cleanly. I know where my meat comes from and how it has been handled. I can't say the same of a processed animal even if I raised it and dropped it off.

Just my opinion.